Speaking exclusively to the Grassroots Non-commercial ARG Developers, how do we monetize what has historically been nearly unmonetizable? No Independent wants to serve multiple Masters if they don’t have to, so bringing in outside funding is either unacceptable or a necessary evil to truly create what the mind wants to create.
But, what if you could have both? Creative freedom AND outside funding. Specifically brand funding. Not ridiculously obvious product placements, logo inserts or brand mentions, but the stealthy implementation of brands into the experience. I’ll let Michael Hastings-Black from Desedo explain from his Future Cookies blog post back in October of last year.
Imagine if our protagonist Alex Tyler is standing outside a SoHo loft, talking with a potential client. A wheatpasted concert poster is in the background, either with the name of a band or a URL. I’ll wager that even casually curious viewers will Google the name while watching - presenting a chance to steer them toward a website, to reward them. In traditional transmedia or ARG, this would further the narrative (a la Lost) - but what about this being an opportunity for a giveaway? The first XYZ people who land on the site win - a gift certificate to iTunes, a round-trip from JetBlue, an exclusive shirt from the Gap. Multiple brands could participate throughout the text, and degrees of difficulty would correspond to the prizes. To keep people trying - stagger the victories, every 20th person, a la the days of calling a radio station for concert tickets.
No overt branding, but brands fused into the experience - with tangible rewards given to the players who are lucky enough to stumble upon one of these Cookies. There are many ways you can take this concept without compromising the integrity of the narrative. A rogue employee from a future version of a modern company posting riddles on a dark corner of the corporation’s website, for example.
With the CPM model of media measurement getting squeezed to almost unrecognizable proportions, we’re seeing ad agencies looking at metrics like “Engagement” for the first time ever. They are seeing more than anyone that push marketing strategies are becoming less and less effective. By fusing themselves into experiences such as an ARG, they’re not pushing or pulling, they’re playing. And what better way to build brand loyalty than to not only provide the consumer with an immersive and fulfilling experience, but to play right alongside them.
Taking this concept beyond the ARG and leading into a stream of transmedia elements, the IP evolution could look something like this:
ARG #1, built specifically for the hard-core ARGers, a film to bridge the gap between ARG #1’s narrative and the more mainstream second ARG. Which then leads into several additional branches that take on a life of their own. We’re conservatively talking about taking the consumer through a journey that could last a year or more if one stayed with the narrative from start to finish.
As the audience builds (which would be helped by cross-promotional relationships with the brand partners), so too does the affinity between brand and consumer/participant. Call it the NASCAR-effect, for lack of a better parallel. NASCAR fans support the brands that splash logos on their favorite Driver’s car because they know, without that sponsorship support, there is no NASCAR.
For the first time, traditional media buyers are stepping away from the spreadsheets and taking a serious look at Engagement measurement. This is great news for immersive entertainment properties, it’s our job to make sure that we are creatively fusing these brands who crave engagement into the experience, rather than taking the easy way out and over-commercializing the experience just to cash a check.
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After going through over 2,000 synopses and reading over 300 screenplays, manuscripts, and treatments, we are thrilled to announce that we have secured the option for Patrick Daly’s intense feature screenplay, THE BOTTOMLESS PUZZLE, and will begin the development process immediately. As was noted in our open call six weeks ago, we are seeking projects with transmedia potential which have enough depth to cross multiple media platforms without sacrificing the story’s throughline. THE BOTTOMLESS PUZZLE definitely fits this criteria.
